But when the Royal National Lifeboat Institution crew arrived below the bridge, they spotted a man in the River Thames, succumbing to the weight of his heavy clothing and struggling to keep his face above water.

So as police arrived on the bridge surface last Wednesday night and prevented the suicidal man from jumping, the RNLI crew rescued the 33-year-old man in the river who was suffering from hypothermia.

RNLI rescue boat (Image source: RNLI website)

“Although he seemed alert and spoke to the crew, he was apologetic and wasn’t sure who he was or how he came to be in the river,” Toni Scarr, a RNLI crew member, told the Telegraph, adding that hypothermia may have been behind the man’s confused state.

“There were no other boats in the area at the time and I don’t think anyone was actually aware he was in the water,” she added. “Chances are if it hadn’t been for the lifeboat crew launching to the original incident, he would never have been spotted and would have drowned.”

“He was incredibly fortunate in that respect. We still don’t know how he came to be in the water, but due to an unusual twist of fate we managed to avoid one more fatality on the River Thames.”